Throne Room.
Captain Jero Hightower, the "White Bull" secretly talked about by Barristan, has just received an order from his king to lead his team to retrieve the "willful" His Highness Crown Prince at all costs.
The second son Viserys·Targaryen, who was brought to Aerys II today, was standing at the foot of the steps of Iron Throne, watching how his father ordered Captain Jero.
As a young boy, he watched the old but tall Captain Kingsguard turn away with childish eyes, thinking to himself:
Maybe, Brother Wang just doesn't like his current marriage, and he and Princess Elia are unhappy together?
The silver-haired little prince sighed:
Well, it would be great if he could have a sister and Brother Wang could have a sister--
No coincidence.
The daughter of Lord Tywin who returned from King's Landing to Westerlands, the sister of the youngest Kingsguard in history, and the other Cersei·Lannister of the Casterly Rock golden twins also think so.
She also felt that Rhaegar was not satisfied with her Dorne wife.
When Cersei first met Rhaegar·Targaryen, the prince was seventeen years old, in his prime, and a newly promoted knight. When he participated in the competition, the red and gold satin on his helmet was like burning flames.
Her two uncles fell to his spear, and all the knights in Westerlands were defeated by the prince's lance.
When evening came, the prince laid down his arms, sat down in the hall, and played his silver-stringed harp with his long, delicate fingers.
Is there anyone as handsome as him in the world?
He is no mortal.
He has the noble bloodline of Old Valyria, and is a descendant of dragons and gods!
The prince's ballad brought tears to her eyes. Cersei, who became a fan of "Silver Prince", loved those melancholy blue eyes so much.
He's been hurt, she thought.
After we get married, I will treat him well and make up for the pain in his heart.
As for Jaime?
Next to Rhaegar, even her beautiful Jaime seems like a cowboy--
The young blonde girl believed that all this was due to the crazy King Aerys.
It was he who rejected his father's proposed engagement.
If the king can let her marry the prince according to the wishes of the gods, then her marriage to Rhaegar will definitely be happy and joyful!
Crown Prince, who married "Westerlands's light", will never look at that little wolf girl again--
Riverlands.
Another little girl in Riverrun was also standing by the window of the family castle, staring at the turbulent river below.
She was recalling the last words her fiancé left for her before he left, which was also a vow. "Madam, this trip won't be too long. When I come back, we can get married."
Winterfell's Brandon·Stark solemnly swore this to Catelyn Tully when they left in a hurry.
Before he left, he had a duel for her.
The cause of the incident was that when Caitlin announced to her sister Lysa Tully the good news that she and Brandon were about to get married, their father Riverrun Duke Hoster Tully's adopted son Petyr·Baelish heard it.
Petyr·Baelish from the Vale the Fingers small family then issued a challenge to her fiancé Brandon·Stark, claiming that only the winner would be qualified to marry the eldest daughter of the Tully family.
Before the challenge, Petyr asked her for a token. Caitlin, who had always regarded her as her younger brother, did not agree. Instead, she gave her token, a light blue handkerchief sewn by herself, to Brandon. She also begged politely, hoping that Winterfell's heir would let Riverrun's adopted son go.
She said, "He is just a silly boy, but I love him as a younger brother. If he dies, I will be very sad."
The duel had just begun, and it was almost over.
Brandon·Stark attacked fiercely, swords rained down like rain, and the weak Petyr staggered and was covered in injuries.
During this period, Brandon advised weak opponents to surrender quickly more than once.
But the passionate challengers always shook their heads. The boy from the Baelish family, whose family origin is Braavos and had the famous local landmark "Bronze Giants" as his family emblem, stubbornly continued to fight.
In the end, Brandon struck with a fierce slash, penetrating through the weak opponent's breastplate and close-fitting leather, cutting open the soft flesh under Petyr's ribs, causing the short adopted son of the Tully family to fall in a pool of blood--
After that.
It was Brandon·Stark who heard the news that his sister Lyanna was abducted and taken away by the prince Rhaegar·Targaryen.
The impatient Winterfell eldest son only asked the bachelor to write a few letters and send them to Winterfell and the Eyrie. After leaving a word for his fiancée, he left for King's Landing overnight and left in a very hurry.
Catelyn's father Hoster Tully was furious about this and called the Winterfell heir a fool pretending to be a hero--
Brandon is not as patient as Duke Hoster.
With uncontrollable anger, he brought his companions: the North Ethan Glover from Deepwood Motte, Albert Arryn, the heir of the Eyrie, Caleb Royce also from Vale, and Joffrey Mallister from Riverlands, drove straight to King's Landing.
Just when the "Wild Wolf Gang" stormed into King's Landing, the trusted "old wolf" Duke Rickard·Stark in the north also quickly headed south in a hurry.
Unfortunately, the sky is far away and he had no time to stop the impulsive wolf.
As soon as Brandon and others entered King's Landing, they rushed straight towards Red Keep where the king was. This wolf had no younger brothers and sisters to comfort him. He completely forgot about etiquette and clamored for a duel with Rhaegar and told the prince to get out and die.
Rhaegar was busy kissing me and Lyanna, so naturally Red Keep was not here.
After returning from Harrenhal, King Aerys, whose temper became increasingly erratic due to the failure of the "Return of the King" attempt, was angered by the young man's fearlessness.
Aerys ordered the few remaining Kingsguards in Red Keep to lead the guards in Red Keep, arrest them Brandon on charges of "treason and premeditated murder of Crown Prince", and hold them hostage.
He issued an order to summon the fathers of all prisoners to come to Red Keep for questioning to respond to the accusations of crimes committed by their sons.
When the two closest people - a certain collateral knight of the Royce family and Seaguard Earl Jason Mallister's brother rushed to King's Landing, Aerys II, who was successfully activated into the full form of "Mad King" by a series of blows, ordered:
The father and his son were executed immediately without trial.
Even Albert Arryn, the nephew of Duke Jon, who was hanging out with Brandon and whose father had passed away long ago, was not spared. Only Brandon·Stark and Ethan Glover, whose father was coming from the far north and had not yet reached the capital, were left untouched.
All this happened too fast.
Many well-informed nobles, as well as Winterfell Duke Rickard·Stark, who hurriedly traveled and finally arrived at King's Landing and learned of the tragedy, thought so.
This day.
With his son in the king's hands, Duke Rickard, who was secretly mentally prepared, walked into the throne room of Red Keep, fully armed and wearing armor.
The Duke from the north did not waste any words or cry, and directly made the request "Trial by Combat" to the king - the noble class of Westeros has the power to prove that certain undetermined charges are fiction through a duel - all witnessed by Seven.
In fact, this is a very wise move, but Mad King is really crazy this time.
The king, who had become a little excited about killing recently, seemed to have regained his sense of power over his ministers. He ordered people to hang the old wolf up, and let two Pyromancer King's Landing Alchemists' Guild raise the stove under the old wolf.
"Rickard, if you want Trial by Combat, then I will give you a trial. The flame is House Targaryen's fighter. If you want to prove your innocence, then go and duel with it-ha, haha-hahahaha--"
The king laughed wildly. He wanted to play: Old Wolf, please eat meat tonight.
That's not all.
Aerys II, who is completely crazy, feels that he is in great condition and his imagination is wide open.
With an idea, someone brought Brandon·Stark into the throne room and forced him to watch the intense scene of his father wearing heavy armor being burned alive in the blazing flames.
Brandon's hands were handcuffed behind his back, a soaked leather cord was tied around his neck, and the other end was connected to some kind of strangulation device Aerys purchased from Tyrosh.
Only his feet were free from all parts of the wild wolf's body, and his brightly polished sword was placed on the floor in front of him, just out of reach.
Brandon·Stark watched his father being burned by the fire, desperately trying to break free, struggling forward,
Go and pick up the sword to save his father.
He was indeed trying very, very hard, but the harder he tried, the harder the leather cord around his neck sank into his flesh and tightened, until he finally strangled himself to death.
In this spacious and empty place where Iron Throne and Red Keep were placed, roars and screams resonated, wild shouts and crazy laughter resounded.
The seventeenth king of the House Targaryen dynasty, Aerys·Targaryen, he went crazy.
"White Bull"Jero·Hightower: